I first heard
of Indie Game: The Movie while I was watching CBC News at work. I was gobsmacked. A documentary about video games, made by
Canadians that was critically acclaimed at the Sundance Film Festival. What!?

Indie Game
follows four different independent game developers: Jonathan Blow (developer of
Braid), Ed McMillen and Tommy Refenes (developers of Super Meat Boy) and Phil
Fish (developer of Fez). With Ed, Tommy
and Phil, we follow their lives as they attempt to get their games developed
and launched. We see their struggles
with the industry, and their David and Goliath attitudes as they try to get
their games out. They each provide their
reasons for why they’ve given up everything they have to develop games. With Jonathan Blow, since his game was
already released, we get a more reflective perspective.

Overall,
Indie Game: The Movie was enjoyable.
Technically, it was a very sharp, clean looking documentary. I’m quite sure
much of my enjoyment comes from being a gamer and having that respect for the
industry. I just wonder how a non-gamer
would view it and what they would take away from it. Regardless, the way that the documentary was
shot and cut broadens the audience appeal. What makes it relatable is the emotional
hook. Be it video games or not, everyone
has something that they feel passionate and deeply about. In Indie Game, you’re there with them through
struggles, heartaches and triumphs and you want to see them succeed.

I think the
biggest problem I had with the movie was that the 3 perspectives that they
followed were for the most part, success stories. All 3 of the games from the different
developers were critically acclaimed
games that sold well (in the case of Fez, critically acclaimed at the time –
sold well post-movie when the game was finally released). I’d love to have seen an indie developer
who’s game wasn’t critically acclaimed, who’s game didn’t sell well, where they
drew inspiration, what they had hoped to achieve and how life continued on for
him or her afterwards. That sort of
thing. For every success story, there’s
probably a hundred or maybe thousands of un-successes. It would have been nice (although, I bet
heartbreaking) to see the flipside. I
think that would have been a more honest look at the indie game industry. It’s not always sunshine and lollipops
afterwards.

Whether
you’re a gamer or not, I recommend Indie Game: The Movie for the human story
that’s told underneath the surface.
Later geeks!